OtterWay: Brand, Product and Launch, Designed and Built End to End

We wanted a single project that exercised every part of our offer, from brand and product design to engineering, QA and launch, held to the same standard as client work. A walking app fitted: native features like the Dynamic Island and live activities, live data, payments, a mascot, and a marketing site and emails around it.

The constraint was the point. The brief was a production-ready app on iPhone and Android within three weeks, on a lean budget, with each stage documented so the same approach can be repeated on client products.

The design system came first, in light and dark, built from scratch in Figma, and the app was built directly from it. Week one covered the system and core screens, week two the build, and week three testing and release to both stores, with the website, pilot sign-ups and emails launched alongside.

Pace didn't mean skipping exploration. The splash screen went through five animated concepts before one was chosen. As an internal project, sign-off sat with us; on client work, a review at the end of each stage fits into the same plan.

Walking earns pebbles, and pebbles unlock daily drops for Scout the otter. AI agents produced the outfit set in Scout's matte clay style, cut into layers ready for the wardrobe, so dressing him up becomes a small reward for every walk.

Subscriptions and in-app purchases run on RevenueCat across both stores, ready for the Pathfinder plan. During the beta everything is free, and the free Explorer tier keeps routes, safety and SOS for everyone.

One Expo codebase serves iPhone and Android and is built locally, so there are no paid build minutes. The website captures pilot sign-ups and Resend handles every email, from welcome to arrival check-ins.

Every service runs on a free or low-cost tier, so the whole product, from app to website to email, costs almost nothing to run during the beta.